Knights rally past Sumter; Patriots up next

By Rob Gantt The Gazette

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Park

Photos

Photo

Cecil Smith

A second-half comeback lifted Stratford High School to a 42-28 victory over Sumter in a non-region football game on Friday night.The Knights improved to 2-0 by rallying from a 28-21 deficit in Sumter. It was Stratford’s fourth win in the series over the last five games.Coach Ray Stackley’s squad travels to Fort Dorchester on Friday. The Patriots are 2-0 after convincing victories over Carolina Forest and Cane Bay. The Knights have won two straight over Fort Dorchester and three of four, including last season’s 28-21 win that was Stackley’s 250th career victory.“Fort Dorchester is much improved,” he said. “They are very athletic on both sides of the ball. Their quarterback (Kobe Garrett) is very dangerous running and throwing and their defensive front is as big and as athletic as we will see all year … we will have to play better than we have been playing to be successful.”Garrett and the Patriots figure to be a stern test. Against Cane Bay, Garrett threw four touchdown passes to four different receivers and running backs Matt Murray and Nahshon Cyrus combined for nearly 200 yards.Cane Bay finished with less than 170 yards of total offense.“Our kids played hard,” Fort Dorchester coach Steve LaPrad said. “We moved the ball well and our defense played like we expect it to in the second half but we need to clean some things up. Hopefully with a good week of practice we can straighten the other things out.”Against Sumter, quarterback Jacob Park was 19 of 33 for 334 yards and three touchdowns. The Georgia commitment tossed two touchdowns to Jordan Johnson and another to Thad Thompson.Johnson and Tyree Scroggins each caught six passes for 97 and 79 yards respectively. Johnson added a rushing touchdown for the Knights.Thompson had three grabs for 94 yards while Jamek Jones added three catches for 63 yards.Defensively, linebacker Cecil Smith led the way with 13 tackles and 2.5 sacs. Linebacker Michael Simmons, linebacker T.J. Deveaux and defensive lineman Joe Cook added 10 tackles apiece.Deveaux also had 2.5 sacks, while Cook added a sack and a half. Defensive lineman Rodrigo Hernandez and cornerback Sheldon Reid added eight and six tackles respectively.Reid also made an interception.After Fort Dorchester, the Knights host Ashley Ridge on Sept. 20 and travel to Colleton County on Sept. 27.

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